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News and Updates
April 29, 2010
Statement by the UFCW on the Senate Immigration Reform Framework
“The reform plan unveiled today by Senators Reid, Schumer, and Menendez is a positive development in our efforts to fix our nation’s badly broken immigration system.
April 29, 2010
UFCW PRESIDENT CONDEMNS ARIZONA’S ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) President Joe Hansen released the following statement today denouncing Arizona’s controversial new immigration law:
“”Arizona’s new immigration law is unworkable, unconstitutional and it undermines our nation’s rich immigrant history and heritage. It is a recipe for racial profiling and a marked retreat from the values and ideals that have made America strong.
“”In recent years, the debate over immigration has grown increasingly inflammatory, polarizing, and, at times, it has run counter to our nation’s interests and our better instincts. This bill is the result of that divisive debate—and the product of political expediency at its worst.
“”The UFCW strongly denounces the legislation and urges the Department of Justice to aggressively challenge its constitutionality. We also urge Congress to lead on this critical issue at the federal level, where it belongs and where it can be addressed in a comprehensive, rational and productive manner.
“”All across the country, UFCW locals and our members are organizing and mobilizing their communities around the importance of comprehensive immigration reform and protecting workers’ constitutional rights.
“”America needs a 21st century immigration system that works for the American worker—a system where undocumented workers can come out of the shadows and get right with the law, a system where all workers can see their job and earnings prospects strengthened because bottom feeding employers are no longer given free reign to hire and abuse undocumented immigrants, and a system where all workers can speak up without fear of retaliation or discrimination.
“”Together, we can bring stability and security to our economy, to our borders and to our families. Together, we can refocus this debate on real, meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform that restores the rule of law, respects the constitutional rights of all workers, and recognizes the incredible role that our nation’s diversity has played—and will continue to play—in making our communities strong and vibrant.””
April 28, 2010
UFCW, JBS get labor-management award
UFCW, JBS get labor-management award, Business First, April 16, 2010
April 28, 2010
Outlook for chicken industry just keeps getting better
Outlook for chicken industry just keeps getting better, Meatingplace, April 19, 2010
April 12, 2010
FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS JOIN NATIONAL EFFORT TO BRING FRESH FOOD AND GOOD JOBS TO FOOD DESERT NEIGHBORHOODS
(NEW YORK, NY) – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) proudly announces its support for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative legislation introduced today by New York legislators Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez (D-NY).
The legislation will provide $1 billion through loans and grants to help build approximately 2,100 new grocery stores in high need areas across the country, including an estimated 273 stores in New York City. The initiative would create an estimated 200,000 new jobs nationally.
The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is a critical part of rejuvenating and revitalizing underserved neighborhoods both in terms of food quality and quality jobs that can support a family.
New York-based UFCW Local 1500 is a leading partner in the New York FRESH Initiative which serves as a model for the national legislation and has successfully launched two major supermarkets into previously underserved areas in the Bronx. Those supermarkets also added hundreds of new jobs and subsequent income to area residents.
Supermarkets act as anchors for economic development in a neighborhood. In community after community, good supermarket jobs provide workers with good wages, career opportunities and most importantly, quality health care coverage that is key to a healthy lifestyle. UFCW members in New York and across the U.S. take pride in serving their customers with good food. This national legislation will provide needed funding to expand those opportunities into even more markets.
The UFCW applauds Senator Gillibrand and Congresswoman Velasquez for their vision in bringing worker organizations together with the economic development leaders and health policy advocates to ensure that new food outlets also provide good career jobs and training opportunities for new employees.
We believe that working together works. With the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, we will:
- Create new jobs from building new supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods;
- Create new jobs from operating those stores; and
- Create new jobs from related development which will grow up and around the new stores.
All the while, providing millions of residents with access to good, healthy, affordable food.
April 8, 2010
OSHA 300 Logs: An Important Tool To Improve Safety and Ensure Accountability
Safety is one of the most important issues at any plant. Preventing injuries at the workplace is about identifying hazards and getting them fixed, and stewards play a particularly important role in making sure this happens.
Many workers are already familiar with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division within the U.S. Department of Labor that sets and enforces safety standards in the workplace.
These standards are the law and employers are required to comply with them. Among these requirements is the OSHA Form 300. Most employers with 10 or more full-time employees are required to file this form, which is a yearly log of work-related injuries.
Miguel Luna, a steward from UFCW Local 2, works in a plant in Guymon, Okla. He has been an active member of his plant’s safety committee for more than four years.
“I joined the safety committee to help to keep my coworkers safe. Together with other members, we have helped to improve safety at the plant. The OSHA 300 logs are fundamental for our mission. They help a lot,” Luna said.
OSHA mandates that employers record all new cases of work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses if they involve death, time away from work, restricted work, transfer from another job, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional.
“An OSHA 300 log is where companies record the injuries that occur at the workplace,” said Luna. “By law, they have to report all the injuries to OSHA.”
The OSHA law gives workers and their unions the right to have access to injury logs.
Stewards, workers, and supervisors can use the OSHA 300 logs to help to improve safety in a food processing or meatpacking plant.
“At our plant, our safety committee meets once a month. We talk about how to improve safety at our plant,” said Luna. “The OSHA logs are very useful for those
of us on the committee, because we can see if we need to improve safety in one area or if we can do something different.”
Luna added that there have been several instances when the OSHA logs have helped the committee to improve safety at the plant.
“For example, if we see in the logs that many injuries are occurring on the line due to an ergonomic issue, then we look into what is causing that issue, we investigate, and once we have reached a conclusion, we meet with the plant’s safety director,” he said.
Unfortunately, in some instances, workplace injuries are being under-counted. This year OSHA has enacted an enforcement program to review the logs and make certain that employers record all injuries.
Luna said that stewards play an important role in making sure employers keep the log current.
“As stewards, we have to review the logs to make sure injuries are being recorded in an accurate and proper way,” he said. “I recommend that stewards stay on top of things and check the logs on a regular basis.”
He said that if a steward suspects that an injury has been inaccurately reported in the OSHA logs, the best way to solve any discrepancy is to talk to the injured worker, get the facts, and talk to the plant’s safety manager or supervisors to try to clarify the issues.
For Luna, the most important thing to do if an injury occurs is to make sure that the affected worker fully recovers.
“Stewards should check back with the injured worker and follow up throughout his or her recovery. We have to support each other and that means making sure injured workers get the proper treatment,” he added.
April 6, 2010
In Maine, Last Sardine Cannery in the U.S. Is Clattering Out
In Maine, Last Sardine Cannery in the U.S. Is Clattering Out, New York Times, April 3, 2010
March 21, 2010
FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS LAUD PASSAGE OF SWEEPING HEALTH CARE REFORMS
Washington DC— Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed health care reforms that will better serve all Americans. Thanks to the commitment of President Obama and Democratic Members of Congress, we now have reform legislation that has eluded our nation’s grasp for a century.
This is an achievement that will rank among the highest in our national experience.
For the countless hard-working families across the country suffering at the hands of our nation’s badly broken health care system, the passage of this bill represents an unprecedented leap forward in the struggle to ensure all Americans have access to affordable health care—and makes good on President Obama’s promise to lead our country through the difficult challenges facing the American people on this issue.
With the passage of this bill comes an end to the worst of insurance company abuses. No longer will Americans have to fear being denied health insurance due to pre-existing conditions. There will be no more lifetime limits on the dollar value of benefits. No more will insurance companies be allowed to retroactively cancel insurance coverage when a policy holder becomes ill.
Aside from reigning in insurance company greed, the bill also extends coverage to millions of Americans who would otherwise go without, reduces prescription drug costs for seniors, while encouraging employers to fulfill their obligation of providing benefits to their workers.
UFCW members participated in the health care debate in nearly every congressional district across the country. They made calls and wrote letters, rallied and marched, visited district offices and traveled to Washington D.C., to meet with elected representatives. UFCW members won’t forget the representatives who voted “yes” on these reforms and stood with working people and families rather than the insurance company lobbyists.
March 19, 2010
AFL-CIO, SEIU, UFCW URGE SENATE LEADERS TO MOVE COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM FORWARD
WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern, and President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka, sent a joint letter to Senators Lindsay Graham and Charles Schumer re-asserting labor’s unified position and unfailing commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform this spring.
Full text of the joint letter follows.
Dear Senators Graham and Schumer:
We praise your continued leadership to reach across the aisle to craft a comprehensive fix to the broken immigration system that is prolonging the economic crisis and hurting working families. We collectively represent over 15 million American workers, some born here and others who have migrated from elsewhere to work for this great country. Although there are aspects of your plan that cause us concern, we view it as a work in progress, and we are confident that the details can be worked out as your framework is turned into legislation and works its way towards enactment.
Both U.S. born and immigrant workers are badly served by our current broken immigration laws which allow employers to divide and exploit workers, are a drag on our nation’s economy, and cause unnecessary suffering. We need to replace them with a system that levels the playing field as we fight for better wages and working conditions for all workers.
The labor movement came together about a year ago to urge passage of an immigration system that works better for America’s workers and we remain absolutely united in that goal. At that time, we explained that immigration reform must be a component of a shared prosperity agenda that raises the standard of living and quality of life of all workers. Since then, we have rolled up our sleeves and worked hard to enact this sorely needed reform, including good faith efforts to find common ground with business and other diverse stakeholders around an immigration reform proposal that works for America.
That said, we feel strongly that it would be a mistake to enact any new employment-based visa program that does not adequately protect workers—both US and foreign-born—and that is not justified by filling established labor shortages. We have proposed the establishment of an independent research-based commission that can accurately assess the need for foreign workers on an ongoing basis as our economy fluctuates and develops, which will satisfy the legitimate needs of employers and at the same time protect the interests of American workers We look forward to discussing this proposal with you in the days to come.
We are a nation that respects hard work, family and the pursuit of the American Dream. Our immigration system must hold true to these principles. This is an instance where upholding our principles is also good for the bottom line. It is estimated that comprehensive immigration reform would grow the economy by as much as $1.5 trillion.
We believe that a just, fair and practical compromise is very much within reach if there is political leadership and if all sides are willing to agree on a framework that:
- Preserves the rights of all workers,
- Accurately matches the numbers and conditions of entry of newcomers to labor shortages in our economy with the flexibility necessary to meet the legitimate needs of employers, and
- Is consistent with American values.
On behalf of America’s workers, we request immediate congressional action and look forward to working with you as you perfect your framework and translate it into legislation. We stand ready to meet with business to discuss future flow and unified support for a comprehensive immigration bill and we ask business leaders to join us in this call. We urge Senators and Representatives of both parties to stand up to the divisive anti-immigrant bullies who seek to shout down sensible immigration solutions that are supported by the majority of the American people. Let’s get this done right, and let’s do it this year.
Sincerely,
Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)
Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO
Background:
AFL-CIO/Change To Win Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Immigration reform is a component of a shared prosperity agenda that focuses on improving productivity and quality; limiting wage competition; strengthening labor standards, especially the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively; and providing social safety nets and high quality lifelong education and training for workers and their families. To achieve this goal, immigration reform must fully protect U. S. workers, reduce the exploitation of immigrant workers, and reduce the employers’ incentive to hire undocumented workers rather than U.S. workers. The most effective way to do that is for all workers–immigrant and native-born–to have full and complete access to the protection of labor, health and safety and other laws. Comprehensive immigration reform must complement a strong, well-resourced and effective labor standards enforcement initiative that prioritizes workers’ rights and workplace protections. This approach will ensure that immigration does not depress wages and working conditions or encourage marginal low-wage industries that depend heavily on substandard wages, benefits, and working conditions.
This approach to immigration reform has five major interconnected pieces: (1) an independent commission to assess and manage future flows, based on labor market shortages that are determined on the basis of actual need; (2) a secure and effective worker authorization mechanism; (3) rational operational control of the border; (4) adjustment of status for the current undocumented population; and (5) improvement, not expansion, of temporary worker programs, limited to temporary or seasonal, not permanent, jobs.
March 12, 2010
UFCW STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT
Washington, DC – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union represents more than 250,000 men and women who work in the food processing and packing industries. Thousands of these jobs are linked to food exports.The following is the statement of UFCW International President Joseph T. Hansen:President Obamas remarks yesterday on trade show that this Administrations focus is where it should beon generating new jobs. Putting some meat on his state of the union pledge to generate two million export-related jobs, the President also addressed the overvalued Chinese currency which is the worlds greatest trade distortion. By some estimates Chinas manipulation of its currency is costing the United States some 1.4 million jobs and significantly harming other national economies as well. We look forward to the Administrations continued engagement on this crucial issue.